Living the World Cup Life in Canmore!!!

Many thanks to Joy for corralling the various locals who made it to Canmore to get their impressions of the World Cup.  Sounds like the rest of us missed a really good time!

*****

Rachel's photo

We were an enthusiastic and supportive bunch in Canmore, along with other skiing friends from the Methow, Teacup Nordic and many other clubs in the United States and Canada. Here are some of our thoughts. 

 

Why did you go to Canmore instead of Minneapolis and what did you enjoy most about watching the races there?

 

Jodie & David & kids: 

We chose Canmore because we knew it was a beautiful place to ski and was going to be a smaller crowd. To be honest, I (Jodie) was a little sad to miss out on the Minneapolis party, but once we got there, we knew that Canmore was just the best place to be. We enjoyed that it was a small venue and we could really interact with the athletes and the crowd. The kids got to talk to so many of their heroes and got so many autographs and fun memories. They were also thrilled to get to show up on the international broadcast.  It really was so special.

Jodie's photo

Don:

I had been to Canmore before and knew there would be great skiing as well as race viewing.  I have skied Wirth Park in Minneapolis and while I knew it would be a fantastic celebration, the opportunity to ski on great trails in a truly spectacular setting made it a no brainer for me.

Chris's photo 

Chris:

I, too, had been to Canmore and had fond memories of spectacular scenery. I also enjoyed the historic Nordic skiing exhibits inside the Canmore Nordic Center: skis, boots, bindings, roller skies, and Canadian Nordic champions. I enjoyed the large screens with video of the racers and being able to get up close to the action yet able to move around to see the race course from multiple angles.

 

Rachel & Dan:

We went to Canmore because the initial round of MN tix sold out before we could get some. I didn't want to chance it, and we had been to Canmore once before, so we pivoted pretty quickly. I am sorry to miss the MN excitement, but the beautiful scenery, small and intimate venue, more racing, and great skiing were awesome. Everyone was so friendly too.

Chris's photo

 

Jeff:

There are more kilometers of skiing in Canmore than Minnesota and the views are better!

 

Joy:

We LOVE Canmore and were slated to go and watch the World Cup there four years ago when Covid hit so were super glad it came again. We love that we can ski on the trails adjacent to the course, as well as at other local areas and that Canmore has good restaurants and lots of ski shops.

 

What was your best non-Canmore Nordic ski (if you tried other trails)?

Jodie and David and kids:

We had a fun family ski up to the Meadow and really enjoyed standing in the middle of such magnificent peaks. On the way up, we got to ski alongside Jasmi Joensu  from Finland (who my kids knew about from the Alana Sonnesyn podcast). On the way back, we got to see Lucas Chanavat and Hugo Lapalus from France.

 

Rachel & Dan:

We stayed on the Canmore trails, which were super nice and plenty challenging.

Rachel's photo

Don: 

Best ski was the one Jeff and I did from Goat Creek parking lot to Banff. 18.5 Km of moderate but sweet classic skiing. It was fun to have a 50-year-long climbing friend and his wife catch up to us about halfway through. Drinks at the Banff Hotel (with a visit with Ebba Andersson) and then dinner in Canmore with more drinks followed.

 

Chris:

I enjoyed our ski from Banff toward Goat Creek, visiting Lake Louise and the historic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, such majestic structures! (Joy and Chris skied the opposite direction, meeting Don and Jeff.)

 

Jeff:

The Canmore to Banff (Goat Creek to Banff) was pretty impressive. Also the phenomenal bar at the Banff Hotel with views, custom cocktails, and homemade potato chips.

 

Joy:

One day we drove to Banff National Park and headed out on the Cascade River trail. Within the first kilometer, on the freshly groomed trail, we noticed first an adult cougar track and then tracks from a pack of wolves—ON the ski trail! The largest wolf had feet as large as the cougar! We kept going (away from the wolves) and found two fresh bones dropped on the trail with no tracks around them. We’re thinking the ravens got the last bits. Six kilometers down the trail we crossed a bridge and came to a very cool snow camp with a trail groomed around it including a kitchen with food boxes, tent pads along the trail, and an outhouse. What a great place to take kids!

 

What was your favorite celebrity sighting? Tell all!

Jodie and David and kids:

On Friday, after the races, we saw Harald Oestberg Amundsen leaving the press area, long after everyone had gone home. My kids followed him and chatted with him a bit, congratulating him on being in the lead for the overall winner. They got his autograph on their drink belt (Miranda) and headband (Sabrina) and Miranda asked him for his yellow bib. He had given away all of his bibs for the day, but suggested that if they found him the next day, he would give her his bib.  The next day (which was the sprint day), Miranda made sure that they were right at the exit after he exited after the semi-finals. He said that if they found him after the finals, Miranda could have the bib, so they hung out and about 10 minutes later, the bib was hers! Amundsen was already her favorite skier (behind Jessie, of course) and this 100% sealed the deal. And as for me, my ultimate "ski mom flex" was that I got to chat with Klaebo's parents for a bit (because Miranda recognized them in the crowd)!

Jodie's photo

 

Don:

It was awesome to go out on our first full day and see Klaebo, Diggins and Niskannen skiing the opposite direction and Pellegrino going the same direction as us (on the trails).

 

Rachel & Dan:

The best part about skiing on the Canmore trails was all the celebrity sightings! We saw Pellegrino one time, part of the Swedish women's team, lots of athletes. One memorable moment was coming back to the Centre on the Banff Trail on that slow downhill and just being blown away like I was standing still by one of the young male Norwegian skiers (no name on bib). His technique was just incredible. One other exciting moment was before the first race, we were walking to a little cafe for breakfast and we saw Simon Krueger jogging on the path. We were so excited! We said hi, and of course he won the 15k later in the morning.

(And Dan adds:) When we skied out the Bow trail on the rest day on Monday we saw a lot of athletes, including Sophia Laukli, Frida Karlsson, Edvin Anger and of course my idol Frederico Pellegrino! We skied back up the Banff trail alongside Ireland's Thomas Maloney Westgaard, his form was amazing and looked effortless. We also met some local Washington celebrities, Missy and Rick LeDuc, who are the owners of the Mazama Store and good friends of Don's!

 

Jeff:

It’s hard to pick when you have the world’s best skiers warming up right next to you on the ski trails!

Chris's photo

 

Joy: After a bunch of traveling, I was just longing for on-snow in-woods time, so wasn’t really looking around that much, but Don and Jeff made sure to check in with me a lot to tell me all the celebrities I missed! (“Klaebo went by you THREE times, you didn’t see him?!) I did notice Pellegrino, who passed on the track next to me and had his name on his back, and Jessie and friends. The other apparent celebrity was Don, according to all the people who spotted him and stopped to talk! It was fun to talk with Ebba Andersson and her friends Gustav and Eva, who were also exploring the Banff Hotel on the day off. They thought it was very cool to meet Holly Brooks’ parents!

 

What was your favorite meal when eating out and where did you eat it?

Jodie and David and kids:

TBH we spent every bit of energy cheering for races, chatting with celebrities, and skiing a little so we didn't really go out to eat. Instead, we heated up some frozen food in the hotel room and went to bed early so we could maximize our race watching!

 

Don:

Favorite meal was definitely Crazy Weed (Don has the Thai Chicken). It would have been better if I hadn't knocked over my beer early on in the meal.

 

Rachel & Dan:

Hard to choose, but Dan loves poutine, which he had a couple of times.

Rachel's photo

 

Jeff:

Crazy Weed, the eggplant dish! Five stars! We wanted to go back but didn’t have a free night. Also the beer descriptions are the longest I’ve ever seen!

 

Joy:

Oh, Crazy Weed. It was reported on Faster Skier as the best food in Canmore and it didn’t disappoint. I had the pickle-brined fried chicken, and it was good, but Jeff’s eggplant casserole was at another level entirely.